In the closing hours of the 2007 legislative session, a four year effort to require paper ballots for Maryland's voting system passed the House and the Senate unanimously. The bill, SB 392/HB18, requires a voter-verified paper trail to be implemented in 2010.

"This is a victory for democracy in Maryland. Thousands of voters who worked to make this a reality are celebrating tonight," said Shazia Anwar, Director of TrueVoteMD.org the election watchdog group that spearheaded efforts for a paper ballot. "We crossed a major hurdle tonight, now we have to make sure the bill is fully implemented."

Last week it looked there was no chance a bill would pass in 2007, but consistent citizen pressure -- emails, phone calls and voter visits -- let the Senate leadership know this was an issue of utmost importance to Maryland voters. "We're very pleased elected officials in both Houses decided this was the year to put in place a voter verified paper record that could used independent audits and meaningful recounts" said Anwar.

"TrueVoteMD.org was founded four years ago in order to create elections that voters in Maryland could trust," said Linda Schade, founder of TrueVoteMD. "I'm pleased that we've made significant progress tonight."

The final bill ensures that any new voting system certified for use must include a voter verified paper record. The bill requires an optically scannable paper ballot marked by hand or with the help of a ballot marking device. The final bill also ensures that disabled voters will be able to vote independently and privately. The bill is expected to save Maryland taxpayer money as studies have shown that operating costs for optical scanning equipment are 30% to 40% lower than the cost of Maryland's current touchscreen machines.

The final step for enactment of the bill into law is the signature of Governor Martin O'Malley. O'Malley has expressed support for a voter verified paper ballot during his gubernatorial campaign. A poll conducted by the State Board of Election last year found that 69% of Maryland voters supported a paper trail.

Maryland was one of the first states to use electronic voting machines and is one of the last to require a voter verified paper ballot.

Twenty-seven states require either a voter verified paper ballot or a paper ballot based system and seven other states do not use electronic voting machines. Over 30 states use optical scan systems 50% will vote on them in 2008.